The Voice - Consumer's Voice

Must I pay them?

Hello sir I need your assistance. In 2010 I applied for a loan amounting to 36,000. Then in 2012 before finishing the loan I got a sponsorship to further my studies, I went for 5 years to study. During that time the loan wasn't been serviced or not paid monthly. So when I came back I went to them to check with my credit so that I repay them but I found it at P80,000. I tried to negotiate so I pay where from where I left of which was around P45,000 balance they said is not possible. Please help me on what to do.

Unfortunately, I’m not sure there’s much I can do to assist. This is what happens when you default on a loan. The lender will continue to add interest and penalty charges to the amount you owe them. When they engage debt collectors their costs will also be added to the bill. Then if they instruct attorneys to take legal action against you those costs will also be added to the amount you owe. If you go back and read your loan agreement carefully you’ll see that you agreed to all of this when you first applied for the loan.

I’m not trying to be unhelpful but look at it from the lenders point of view. Imagine if you’d lent someone a lot of money and after paying it back for a short time they disappeared for five years without honouring the debt. Wouldn’t you be angry? Wouldn’t you engage a debt collector and then attorneys? Wouldn’t you want to charge them extra for the bother and costs you’d incurred?

The lesson for all of us is whenever you owe someone money and then you have financial difficulties or your circumstances change, the lender must be the first person you call. Give them some warning that there will be problems and it’s much more likely that they’ll be flexible. Big lenders might offer you a repayment ‘holiday’ to give you time to get your affairs in order. They might also renegotiate the repayment schedule so that is easier for you. Remember that lenders want their money back as easily as possible. They really DON’T want to spend their time and money chasing you. They want an easy life.

I suggest that you contact the lender and ask to meet with them to negotiate a repayment plan that you can afford and that gives them their money as quickly as possible.

What can I do about this Bitcoin scam?

I just read your viewpoint online about Bitcoin and how it is not the most advisable to invest in. I’m actually asking on behalf of a group of 60 victims whom were mainly introduced into buying bitcoins by a certain lady who I would say is the guru in Botswana.

Late last year she informed us that the website where we were mining had “crashed” because of an influx of people. Then she blamed the court case of Bitcoin founders! After a lot of frustrated comments towards her in our Whatsapp group she then muted us. She presented herself as the know all, on top of all things Bitcoin but when asked for answers about the whereabouts of our monies suddenly she’s just as in the dark as everyone else. Her actions and responses are also very defensive, careless and insensitive.

Kindly advise me if we have a valid case in taking this matter forward or should we just count our losses and move on. Your help will be highly appreciated.

Yes, I have been very critical of people suggesting that Bitcoin can be seen as an investment. There’s nothing wrong with Bitcoin itself, it’s a legitimate cryptocurrency. If you want to use it to buy and sell things then that’s acceptable but remember that its value is extremely unpredictable. Remember also that it’s entirely unregulated and there are absolutely no protections if something goes wrong. The Bank of Botswana is not going to help you if there’s a disaster.

However, your situation is more complicated. You never had any connection with Bitcoin, you were dealing with a scam called BitClub Network. They were nothing more than a Ponzi scheme. Like all such scams it eventually collapsed and the one piece of truth you were told by the woman who recruited you is that there really is a court case currently underway. The people behind BitClub Network are currently being prosecuted in the United States for running a Ponzi scheme that led to people like you losing a massive $722 million.

We’ve been warning people about BitClub Network since late 2016 and I’m sorry that the warnings didn’t go far enough. I think the person who recruited you and the other recruiters need to be brought to justice for promoting an illegal scam. Let’s send the information to the authorities and see if they’re prepared to take action!